An Election Response

My husband is a very wise man. In the wake of this volatile election, he has been speaking into the void and helping people process all week long. He shared this email interaction with me and I asked if I could post it. I love the heart behind the initial question because of her heart for her co-workers. Rick’s calm response acknowledges the angst but is a calming, God-honoring response. Here’s a peek into his pastoring…

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A woman from my congregation emailed me this week seeking advice about how to respond to non-Christian coworkers who are very upset that Trump is our President-elect. She wrote:

I understand that for me, while I honestly wouldn’t have chosen him to be my president, I am called to respect his authority trusting that God is sovereign over it and is accomplishing His purposes. I can take personal comfort in knowing that I am a foreigner here, and my citizenship is in heaven. This calling and comfort is not true for many of my coworkers as they are not believers. 

My coworkers are a range of devastated to furious about our President-Elect. I want to be an empathetic ear but I have no comfort for them apart from Christ. I’d hate to almost be arrogant by saying something along the lines of ‘I’m a Christian so I have a hope you don’t have’ or dismissive by saying ‘this isn’t all there is.’ Both of those statements are true, but I wouldn’t want to turn a deaf ear towards their feelings of hopelessness, not do I want to join in on their criticism of this authority-even though on the surface I agree with them and wrestle with some of the same anxieties.

Here is what I wrote in reply:

I absolutely love how you are responding in your own heart. Yes, that is spot-on for a believer. I’m proud of you.

And, I love that you aren’t going to flippantly give very “Christian” answers to non-Christians. There’s wisdom and tact in that. On the other hand, don’t miss an opportunity to share from your own story: “Can I tell you why I’m not freaking out? I mean, I’m not thrilled about Trump either. But, as a Christian, my hope is in God, not in a president. I’m sad for those who only have hope in this world, and therefore they live and die with a human election. If you ever want to hear more about my faith in God, I’d love to tell you more. But, I don’t want to be pushy. So, I’ll leave the ball in your court. But, I’m just sad for people who don’t have hope in something bigger and therefore their world is so fragile.”

So, there’s that opportunity to try to represent Jesus. Yet, you could go with a reply that is based simply on common sense. I’d just warn you, be careful not to throw gas on a fire. Use discernment – see if they are open to rational dialogue and input. If so, I offer the points below. If not, then I’d just walk away and let them vent. If discussion seems profitable, here’s what I might point out:

Every four years, we have a presidential election. It’s rarely a landslide. It’s usually fairly close. Roughly, half the people want one person, the other half want the other person. So, when a president gets elected every four years, about half the country is happy, and about half the country is disappointed. That’s the way it is. After the election, the battle shifts from lobbying and voting to character and dignity. It is then that we need gracious winners and gracious losers.

To that you might hear: “Yeah, but Trump is horrible.” To which I would respond, that’s because you are in the half that lost. Realize, you feel about Trump the way the other half feels about Clinton. Or the way many felt about Obama. Did you see rioting in 2008 or 2012? No. Those who lost didn’t riot, or leave the country, or beat up Obama voters. They were dignified losers. I’d want everyone who doesn’t like Trump to do the same.

Otherwise, our democracy doesn’t work. What would you say to a 3^rd world country that is coming out of tyranny and strife? They are just now having a democratic election for the first time. One party wins, the other loses. So, the losers reject the result of the election, and they just revert to shooting at each other. The losing half doesn’t accept the results. There are revolts and riots. And the country is plunged back into the darkness of chaos.

The way we avoid that is by being gracious winners and gracious losers. Every four years, about half the country loses. If that half riots and revolts because they lost, then that should happen after every election. In that case, our democracy wouldn’t work.

Of course, there are recourses open to the losing side. Be patient. Bide your time. The pendulum usually swings back the other way within about 8 years. That’s because both republicans and democrats are very flawed humans and make mediocre leaders at best. In addition to that, we are a very fickle people. So, right now we have a democrat for a president. Many thought he’d be great. And he wasn’t. So, now we’ll hope in a republican. And, he’ll be flawed. So, next time we’ll hope in a democrat… Just look at history. It swings back and forth like clockwork. Trump wasn’t elected king, just president. Bide your time. It’ll swing back in 4-8 years.

In the meantime, there is peaceful protest. There are petitions and lobbying. There are political procedures that I’m sure the democrats in the Senate and House will try to slow down the Trump train. Some will work, some won’t – just like the republicans and Obama. But all those things work within our democracy, not against our democracy.

The last thing I might point out is to call them to treat others as they’d like to be treated. Granted, that’s based on Jesus’ teaching. But, most don’t know that. Most accept that axiom. So, if I’m correct and history repeats itself, then in 4-8 years, they’ll get their person elected. They should act now how they want the losing side to act in 4-8 years when your friends and coworkers are on the winning side. Otherwise they are just plain hypocrites.

OK, you tell me, did that help some?